Volvo To Remove Single-Use Plastics From Offices, Events By 2019

Snapshot: The carmaker aims to replace over 20 million single-use plastic items.

Swedish car giant, Volvo has pledged to remove all single-use plastics from its offices, canteens and events across the globe by the end of 2019 in support of the UN Environment Clean Seas Campaign. In a bid to minimize its global environment footprint, the luxury carmaker will replace over 20 million single-use plastic items such as cups, food containers and cutlery with more sustainable alternatives such as biodegradable products made of paper, pulp and wood. This would lead to removal of around 500 plastic items per employee every year.

To start with, Volvo will remove single-use plastics from global events such as car launches, and from its offices as well as restaurants in Volvo Cars facilities in China, Belgium, the Unites States, Malaysia and Sweden. During 2019, all national sales companies (NSCs) will eradicate single-use plastics from their operations, including local events. According to Volvo Cars, the 2018 roll-out alone is estimated to replace over 140 tonnes of single-use plastic items with plastic-free alternatives.

The company’s action on single-use plastics follows its EUR 300,000 support for the Volvo Ocean Race’s Science Programme. Several of the boats in the 2018-19 edition of the Race feature sensors that aide capturing data on marine health from some of the remotest parts of the world’s oceans, including levels of micro plastics. Sales of the V90 Cross Country Volvo Ocean Race special edition vehicles have contributed to this support. The car features carpet inlays made from Econyl, a fabric made from 100 per cent recycled nylon, including abandoned fishing nets reclaimed from the seabed.

In its commitment to reduce environmental impact of both its products and operations, the company lately announced to electrify all new Volvo cars launched after 2019 and plans for fully electric cars to make up 50 per cent of its global sales by 2025. In terms of operations, Volvo Cars aims to have climate-neutral manufacturing operations by 2025. In January this year, the engine plant in Skövde, Sweden, became its first climate-neutral facility.